TAIOSON

Moriyama san, once again I am in your debt. Thank you very much for looking at this for me. I was hoping the inscription said that the finder would get an all expenses paid trip to Japan. :lol: Oh well, I can dream. Thanks again for your help.

Thank you Moriyama san for your insight. I think it too looks like ginger now that you suggest it. I appreciate everyones kind help. Have you had the opportunity to look at the post with the tsuka mei? Sure need your help on that one. Thanks again.

Brian you answered a question I've had for some time. I tended to think all components of the nihonto were produced as a unit, i.e., all at the same time, and remained that way into the future. In regard to your response, would the same hold true for the tsuba also? Would tsuba be mixed and matched, as it were, over a long period of time? I ask this because I'm trying to use the tsuba to confirm the date of the blade and vice versa. Maybe not a good idea huh? :?

I can see the "666" in the tendrils. Thanks for the reference sites Milt. Can anyone place this tsuba as to school and/or date? I'm trying to figure out if it could be related to the same period as the blade which appears to be from the Umetada school. Thanks all.

Thank you Franco, Milt and Pete. I knew the forum members would know the answers. Franco, your observation concerning the simple things in life is probably what characterizes the oriental mentality in that the simple, small things were (is) felt just as strongly as the rough, and some times brutal opposites. Only the Japanese can make simple extreme beauty out of total chaos. "666" Milt? Have you been sipping the sacrificial sake again? Pardon me now whilst I go off and research the nunome technique, which by the way is part of what makes this whole thing so interesting; it's an impetus for further learning.

Hi John. As coincidence would have it I just posted pictures of a tsuba that exhibits a gold zogan of flowers and tendrils atop a crosshatch pattern in the iron. I have also wondered just how it was applied. Maybe the crosshatch has something to do with the method orcan even define which method. Just thinking off the cuff as it were. Cheers.

After removing the fuchi from the tsuka I noticed a mei(?). Can anyone translate this? Thanks once again all.

Moving on to the next tsuba I submit this one for your interest and help. This one also has sukashi that is somewhat of an enigma in that it too is not readily definable. The gold zogan is straight forward (tendrils and flower blossoms) but what is unique about it is the fact that the zogan is placed over a crosshatched pattern in the iron. This crosshatching appears only under the zogan. There are bones in the mimi and it looks to be a single piece forging. My guess for the upper left sukashi woulb be a rice paper screen. The lower right could also be a screen but looks like it wants to be something else. Looking for ideas and comments. It is associated with the blade marked with Umetada Munehisa mei which I'm still working on. Thanks all.

Consensus of opinion favors the paulownia leaf so we'll say that's what it is. Andy your interpretation of the pregnant rabbit as a Daimyo is very interesting. I did some research and found these pictures which would tend to support your idea and I like the sheaf of rice possibility for the other. Any other ideas from anyone? This stuff is almost like a game and in some cases maybe we'll never know for sure what the correct answer is, unless its submitted for shinsa. Fun trying just the same though. "Watson, the games afoot" Thanks guys.

Thanks to all for the input. First chance I get I'll look for bones in the mimi Milt. As if Kaisho and Gyosho aren't hard enough, Sosho is impossible but I can see the resemblance in the form John, and it could be. My occidental mind however wants to make an association between the sukashi and the zogan leaf or bloom structure at both ends as if it is all related. Could the sukashi possibly be a paulownia or gourd bloom? I guess there doesn't have to be a relationship between any of it really. I'll acceed to others experience in this area though, y'all are the "spurts". "Many minds transcend the one".

Thanks Milt, if I make to Chicago I'll make it a point to stop by. Thanks also Franco for the sage advise. I'm quite leery about sending anything through the mail (MN show) and you are right, hard to ask questions and learn by looking and listening. Best bet would be to try for Chicago. Doubt that I'd be lucky enough to have Morimitsu's personal work but,...who knows. Assuming that it is rated above 70 pts and I have it polished, does that raise the value, aside from being able to enjoy the true beauty of the blade itself? Thanks

Thank you Milt for the wise words, you are absolutely right. Do you know if Shinsa is conducted in different cities or the same ones all the time. I would like to find one as close to Georgia as possible. Thanks again.

Any help the members can give me with this tsuba is greatly appreciated. My attempts to define the sukashi and brass zogan have not been very successful even after looking at at least a hundred pictures. Reference the TSUBAFRONT view for the following. My guess at this point is that the brass zogan "stick figures" represents pine needles and the upper left sukashi is possibly a paulownia leaf. or part of a gourd flower. The upper right sukashi looks possibly like a gourd with a gourd flower zogan at the top or large part of the gourd. The bottom left sukashi has me stumped completely (unless its a funny looking rabbit). It also appears to have gourd flower/paulownia zogans at both ends. The Tsuba is tetsu, maru gata, with maru mimi and weights 4 oz with an average diameter of 2 7/8 in. A very faint fold line can be seen inside the nakago-ana and sukashi. All comments are appreciated, thanks.

Submitted for the forum members review. This is the blade with the mei reading Bishu Osafune Mori Mitsu (see mei in previous post). So far everything I've learned from Nagayama's book seems to verify that it is probably from that time, school, and probably the smith. Having said that, I have only this and one other nihonto to look at in real life so I'm hoping the forum members with vastly more experience can look at the pictures and tell me more. I'm having a great deal of difficulty defining the type or classification of the paterns in hamon, shinogiji, boshi etc. Help! The big question at this point is: Is it worth it, considering the high cost, to have this blade polished and would it increase the value if I did. A full restoration would probably run to $3,000+. One reservation I have about having it polished is that in my mind polishing it removes the history and life from the blade if that makes any sense. Comments? Thanks for everyones help.

Thanks for the response guys. Over the three years or more that I've worked on this the third kanji is the one that stumped me the most until i finally realized the ni was not part of the Niju kanji. Anyway, I think I arrived at Niju from the mei on another or other pics I saw in my research, can't remember for sure. I'll post more and better pics of the mei and some of the whole sword but can't promise will be good enough to help, but I'll try. Along that line I played around with a long bed scanner today trying to replicate the pictures in the books, you know, the ones with the black background. Photos turned out very well but when resized in order to post the resolution went to pot. I'll try camera shots. Thanks again for all the help.

The next three photos that should have been with the first post.

Here are photos of the Wakizashi and my interpretation of the Mei. Hope the experts here can confirm what I came up with and/or correct my mistakes. My best guess is (mei side) Bishu Osafune Morimitsu and (date side) Oei Niju Hachi Nen Ni Gatsu Hai (a day in the 2nd month of the year 1421) Your help is always greatly appreciated.

Thanks Moriyama San for that info. Now I'll have to try and date the Kogotana to see if it fits the date on the wakizashi as I think it is. That will be my next post, pictures of the wakizashi mei that the Kozuka is with. Would it be unusual for the Kozuka to be from and earlier or later date (era) than the sword it is associated with? Thanks again. :D

Thanks again Nobody. I had guessed at UmeSADA Munihisa but it took me an awful long time to get there. I'm assuming that it is the smith's name, is that likely? I could send some other pictures if it would help. Maybe others in the forum could add something. Thanks for your interest and help.

John, I ordered the book you recommended. Thanks for the help. Nobody, I looked up the area of the Mei Prefecture and it is in the rough vicinity (150 miles or so) of Osafune which is where I think the Wakizashi was made. so it fits. By the way, do you know what Rai means and do you think Kunimitsu would have been the maker of the Kozuka? Thanks loads for everyones help.

OK, found the problem. Here are the pictures of the mei and others that may help. Habaki is a three piece affair. inner sleeve is copper, middle sleeve is non-magnetic (stainless?) steel and outer sleeve is, I think, brass. Hard to believe it is gold. Thanks for all the help

Thanks for the recommendation John. I'll check it out. It may be what I need to help me find out just what nihonto I have,..which seems to be a difficult task at best.

Sorry Guys, something radically wrong. Can't seem to upload pix. Seems to be transmitting but don't know to where. Will investigate and will repost when figured out. Thanks for your patience.

Thanks for catching the goof. They appeared to load when I did the attachment but when I checked they weren't there. Stumped. What did I do wrong

I have been trying for quite some time to decipher this mei with little luck. I thought 4 characters would have been relatively easy- WRONG! Been working at it on and off for over a year and a half. Still totally stumped. also pictures of kissaki and blade and unusual habaki if it helps any. Thanks for all the help